Cigarette package



5Pf- 21 1943. w. A. sdHwElKER 2,330,150

GIGARETTE PACKAG'E Filed Aug. a. 1941' Patented Sept. 21, 1943.

sorrise N CIGARETTE PACKAGE William A. SchweikeryDeS lllo'ines,V Lowa Application August S, 194,1, .Serial No. .405,951

1 Claim.

Cigarette packages now in general use are formed of a folded rectangular paper container, a folded rectangular inner container o-f tinfoil, a stamp sealed to the top central portion of lthe tinfoil layer and extended partially over the sides of the package, and a Cellophane folded cover enclosing and sealing the package in air-tight condition. The commonly used method of opening these packages is to rst cut or tear away the "Cellophane wrapper and `then cut or -tear away the upper end of the tinfoil at one side of the stamp, thereby forming an opening of about one-third of the top of the package. This method requires considerable time, and frequently the paper is torn or cut in an uneven manner which makes the opening too large and permits cigarettes to fall out when the package is inverted.

The object of my invention is to provide means of simple and inexpensive construction whereby an operator may readily and easily grasp the projecting end of a tape and pull it to rst tear off the entire upper end of the cellophane wrapper at a point spaced below its top, thereby making the removal of the Cellcphane wrapper very easy by simply lifting off the upper portion and sliding off the lower portion, and then upon a further pull upon the same tape, the upper folded portions of the tinfoil from the edge of the stamp to the upright portions of the package will be cut off and removed with the tape, thereby providing an opened cigarette package with only the desired one-third of the top removed in a clean-cut manner, and from which the cigarettes may be easily removed in the usual manner.

In the accompanying drawing- Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the upper end of a cigarette package embodying my invention with a portion of the top of the package removed to provide for the removal of cigarettes, portions of the tape being shown by dotted lines;

Figure 2 shows a similar view with the top of the package closed and portions of the tape for opening the same being shown by dotted lines;

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the removed portion of the package;

Figure 4 shows the upper portion of the tinfoil blank from which the package is formed, with the tape aflxed thereto;

Figure 5 shows a top edge view of the parts shown in Fig. 4

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a cigarette package disclosing a form of my invention in which the outer Cellophane wrapper is removed jointly with the removal of the top of the cigarette package; and

.Figure 7 :shows en enlarged detail Sectiqnal view on thelline :ler-Jlofilfgure 6. f 1 My improvement .isl'especiallv designed .ier yin cor-metien 4with the @ordinary Qleareiieflak age now in common use, -an-d ;-I qshall ..rstldescribe saidpackaee and :than describe anytimproved Ameans or Quickly rand easily opening :said package ,and ,placing it .in the approved @endif .tien for removingcigarettes zthereilpm,

miie inner :layer of .thenackage @consiste-,ef ian inner layer-` of paper rand lng-.an router lavar-:of ,tinfoil j,secured by adhesives :twine paper layer.. This -is ,indicated ,b y :thereferenlce :numeral ,lll ,and is shown an the drawing in -,a :single layer..

Upon the outer surface of the layer-4011s la paper 1layer J- upon whichfthe usual -tradefmarks .and ornamental designs, notlsllown, @repaintedrouter lpaper flayer .has `its 5upper edgefiush .with .the .tcp .of the package .anddoes not extend loverjth'e .top of .the package, heikle, all that "is ;at the top `of thepackage .iatlielayer lmfiaperand tinfoil, which .may'be ,easily torn. T h'es'ejlayers lll and 'll are placed together when flat," and folded in the customary manner to form a cigarette package, the folds of the tinfoil layer being along the dotted lines l2 shown in Fig. 4. Then the package is filled with cigarettes and the stamp l3is applied over the central portion of the package top and partially down the wide sides thereof. This'provides a portion of the top of one edge member I4 folded over the top and terminating only a short distance from the edge of the package, as shown in Fig. 3. The adjacent n corners of the overlapping edges are folded diagonally over the top as shown a1; l5, and the inner edge terminates under the stamp. The opposite corner at I6 is then folded diagonally over the 4top and over the fold l5, as shown in Fig. 6.

The cellophane wrapper Il is of the ordi-'- nary construction and is applied after the package is lled and does not adhere to the package. Its upper and lower folded ends are sealed together.

My improved opening means comprises a single strip of adhesive tape; its inner end I8 is secured to the inner surface of the flap l5 above the line on which the flap is folded, as shown at I9 in Fig. 2. It is then secured to the inner surface of the flap l5, as shown at 20 in Fig. 2, and then to the inner surface of the flap l5, as shown at 2l in Fig. 2. It is then extended outwardly from the package beyond the inner edge of the flap I5, which is immediately under and parallel to as shown at 22 in Fig. 6, and then completely around the package along a line substantially spaced below the top of the package. When this has been completed and the tape adhering to the parts of the package to which they are applied, the Cellophane cover is applied and the end of the tape is projected outwardly from the edge of the Cellophane wrapper, as shown at 23.

When it is desired to open the package the end 23 of the tape is grasped and pulled outwardly all around the package. This will completely sever the Cellophane wrapper at a point spaced below the top of the package, thereby completely dividing the Cellophane into two parts which may easily be slipped off oi the package since they do not adhere thereto. Upon further pull;- ing upon the tape the flap l5 is then severed along a line flush with the top edge of the package, then the flap I4 is thus severed, and the flap I5 to a point adjacent the stamp and then `iush with the edge of the stamp to the inner edge of the nap I6. The entire top portion of the package from the edge of the stamp to the adjacent side is then removed with the tape which adheres thereto.

By means of this simple and quickly operated movement all oi the various acts now commonly done during the opening of a cigarette package are accomplished and the package retains its original shape, its sides and one end are Hush with or slightly above the ends of the cigarettes so that the cigarettes will be protected from contact with the users pocket and a smooth cleancut opening is provided for the removal of the cigarettes.

If it is desired to at the same time mutilate the stamp, this may be accomplished by extending the inner end portion of the tape diagonally under the stamp, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6, and by solid lines in Fig. 4 where the straight end is shown by dotted lines at 25.

In the accompanying claim I have described the various materials of which ordinary cigarette packages are now made, but desire to be understood as covering equivalent material also. I have mentioned the adhesive tape member, but desire to be understood as covering similar members such as ribbon to which is applied an adhesive.

I claim as my invention:

In a cigarette package including an inner layer of material having its upper side and end portions folded inwardly over the top of the package in overlapping positions, an outer layer of material terminating at the top of the package, and a wrapper material completely enclosing the package, the means providing for the concurrent tearing of said wrapper material and said inner material to open said package at the top so that cigarettes can be freely removed from the package through said opening comprising an adhesive tape having one end xed to the under side of one of the said inwardly folded side portions at a position near the center of the top of the package, and extended along the under surface of said one folded side to the fold line thereof, then along said fold line and the fold lines of said end portion and. said other side portion to a position substantially opposite the one end of said tape in a direction transversely of the package, then cxtended downwardly along the inner surface of said outer material and completely around the inside of said outer material, said tape having its other end projected through said wrapper material to provide a finger grip therefor to the outside of said package, with a pull on said other end of the tape acting first to completely sever the Wrapper material between the top and bottom of the package and a continued pull on the tape acting to sever the folded side portions and end portion at the top of the package from said inner material to provide said cigarette opening at the top of the package.

WILLIAM A. SCHWEIKER. 

